In Part 1, we began looking at the seven seal judgments from the book of Revelation. Now we will compare and contrast those who are sealed for eternity and those who are sealed for wrath.
Sealed for All Eternity
The idea of God sealing His bondservants is taken directly from Revelation 7:2-3. The angel ascending from the rising of the sun (to the east)—“having the seal of the living God” Himself—cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Do not harm the earth or the sea or the trees until we have sealed the bondservants of God on their foreheads.” The next verse describes the number of those who will be sealed: “one hundred and forty-four thousand sealed from every tribe of the sons of Israel” (7:4).
This begs a question: Are only those 144,000 sealed by God, or is that a special subset of God’s bondservants throughout human history who are sealed by Him and for Him? One insight is offered during the blowing of the fifth trumpet in Revelation 9. The demonic locusts who emerge from the bottomless pit are given strict parameters for their torment and destruction. They are told not to hurt the grass or any green thing or tree, “but only the men who do NOT have the seal of God on their foreheads” (9:4).
This is the first indication that there are countervailing seals or marks—one identifying a person as a bondservant of the Most High God, and one marking others as loyalists of the Beast. Since that nefarious mark (infamously known by its numeric code of 666) is described after the passage disclosing the seal of God, it is quite possible that Satan’s beastly mark is a cheap counterfeit of the holy seal.
Paul’s description to Timothy captures the essence of the contrast—and the blessedness of our assurance. Because “the Lord knows those who are His,” He seals us. The biblical concept of bondservant is also instructive. Contrary to any negative connotation the word “servant” conveys in our culture, Scripture emphasizes the humble nobility of such a role. Abraham, Joshua, David, Isaiah, and the Messiah were all referred to as servants of the Lord. As described in Exodus 21:5-6, a willing bondservant would bear permanent evidence of his relationship with the master: a pierced ear.
This realization leads me to understand that the 144,000 bondservants of Revelation 7 are a special group sealed from the tribes of Israel. But all those who come to Jesus, take on His yoke and find rest for their soul are sealed as bondservants of the Most High (Matthew 11:28-30). Similarly, Jesus’ sheep who hear His voice and follow Him will never perish, for “no one will snatch them from [His] hand” (John 10:27-30). Whether His seal is visible to mortal eyes during the Tribulation, it is recognizable even by demonic beings (Revelation 9:3-4) and eternally indelible. Perhaps like Woody and Buzz Lightyear from Toy Story—and the overcomers at the church of Philadelphia—those who belong to Christ have the name of our Master emblazoned on us forever.
Sealed for Wrath
It is hard to fathom how anyone could comprehend the blessing Jesus offers and choose the curse instead. But throughout Scripture, there is a clear distinction between those who hear His voice and those who reject the grace, mercy, and love of God. Through Moses, He said, “I call heaven and earth to witness against you today, that I have placed before you life and death, the blessing and the curse. So choose life in order that you may live, you and your descendants, by loving the LORD your God, by obeying His voice, and by holding close to Him…” (Deuteronomy 30:19-20).
Yet, like Pharaoh, many, if not most, will harden their hearts and seal their own fate by their unrepentant rebellion. Those who are alive when the Tribulation begins will be subjected to the outpoured wrath of God as He administers justice, pours out wrath (still remembering mercy), and orchestrates His purpose to bring the Jewish people to the end of themselves.
As Jesus Christ—the worthy Lamb who was slain—breaks the seven seals on the book held by the Father, successive waves of devastation will be meted out. In rapid progression, they are:
- First – a rider with a bow and crown on a white horse, sent out to conquer
- Second – a rider with a great sword on a red horse, sent to provoke war
- Third – a rider with a pair of scales on a black horse, sent to unleash famine
- Fourth – a rider named Death on an ashen horse, given authority to kill a fourth of mankind
- Fifth – a clamor from the martyrs in Heaven that their blood would be avenged
- Sixth – natural calamities, including a great earthquake and darkened sun and moon
- Seventh – silence in Heaven, before a censer is thrown to Earth causing thunder, lightning, and an earthquake
Some have asserted that these judgments do not represent the wrath of God because that phrasing is not used until Revelation 16 when “seven bowls of the wrath of God” are poured out. But that is a distinction without a difference. The instigator who authorizes and sets the parameters of the Seal Judgments is Jesus Christ. The first horseman is given a crown, the second is given a sword, and the fourth is given authority to kill with the sword, famine, pestilence, and wild easts. (I’m reminded of the Disciples’ astonishment at realizing, “even the winds and the sea obey Him” [Matthew 8:27]—let alone the demonic realm.)
By the breaking of the sixth seal, billions will be dead (based on the current world population). Yet the rebellion continues unabated as “kings of the earth and the great men and the commanders and the rich and the strong and every slave and free man” will hide in caves and among the rocks of the mountains (Revelation 6:15). Their testimony, captured in verses 16 and 17, confirms our understanding that the wrath they are experiencing is from God. They will cry out, “Fall on us and hide us from the presence of Him who sits on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb; for the great day of their wrath has come, and who is able to stand?”
That rhetorical question would suggest that none can stand, but chapter 7 of Revelation tells us otherwise. As I have already explained, John describes an angel “having the seal of the living God” issuing restraining orders to four other angelic beings standing at the four corners of the Earth. Although they had been authorized to harm the Earth and the sea, they are told to wait until the bondservants of God are sealed.
Then, beginning in verse 9, John records that after these things he saw “a great multitude which no one could count, from every nation and all tribes and peoples and tongues, standing before the throne and before the Lamb…” This takes us back to another rhetorical question posed by King David: “Who may ascend the mountain of the LORD? Who may stand in His Holy place?” (Psalm 24:3, CSB). David answers his own question: “He who has clean hands and a pure heart, who has not lifted up his soul to falsehood and has not sworn deceitfully. He shall receive a blessing from the LORD and righteousness from the God of his salvation” (Psalm 24:4-5).
David rightfully understood that salvation comes only from God, who washes His own white as snow, cleansing them of all unrighteousness and crediting them with the blessing of righteousness.
Alternatively, those who endure the wrath of God during the Tribulation—beginning with the Seal Judgments—are being punished because they did not obey the Son by believing in Him, but chose to abide under that righteous, terrible, justified wrath. And although those who pass from this life before the Tribulation may escape the various judgments during those seven years, they too will be judged before the Great White Throne and be condemned to everlasting suffering apart from God.
In that regard, the horrors of the Seal, Trumpet, and Bowl Judgments will pale in comparison to the unending terror that awaits those who have rejected the seal of God.
Choose Now—Before It’s Too Late!
Even the alarming words I’ve chosen cannot adequately describe the Seal Judgments and the everlasting suffering that awaits those who reject Christ. As we’ve said many times, it is a fate we would not wish on our worst enemy—because God loved those lost souls enough to send His own Son on their behalf. (Contrast that compassionate love with the attitude of Pope Gregory I, who said Christians should eagerly anticipate looking down from Heaven across the abyss to “enjoy the agonies of their brethren in eternal fire.”)
What a contemptible contrast to the love of God, who said, “As I live! I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from his way and live. Turn back, turn back from your evil ways!” (Ezekiel 33:11). Even now, while Christ tarries, the Lord is demonstrating His merciful patience because He does not wish “for any to perish but for all to come to repentance” (2 Peter 3:9).
My prayer is that the warning within this article will pierce the heart of any reader who is not yet sealed by God. While you have breath, it is still not too late to turn to Christ and be saved. If you reject Him, instead of being sealed by Him you will endure His wrath as He unleashes the Seal Judgments.
Choose this day—and please, choose wisely.
